A new restaurant due to open in the US is claimed to be the largest in the country to be built using shipping containers. The Smoky Park Supper Club in Asheville, North Carolina, is constructed from 19 containers and was built by shipping container construction firm SG Blocks.
The Smoky Park Supper Club sits on a 1.8 acre (7,284 sq m) site on the side of the French Broad River, allowing customers to arrive by car, foot, bike or boat. The site was formerly brownfield and so required a thorough clean-up operation prior to the start of construction.
SG BLocks vice president of sales and business development David Cross tells Gizmag that it takes 8,000 kWh of energy to melt down used shipping containers and only 500 kWh to reuse them for construction. He estimates that, in using shipping containers, the construction of the Smoky Park Supper Club saved a potential 142,500 kWh of energy.
In order to reuse the containers, they must first be stripped of any exterior coatings. They can then have fresh coatings applied and be prepared for installation.
It took three days to install the 19 containers used to construct the Smoky Park Supper Club. Cross says the build could have been completed in one-and-a-half days, but that it was decided to take more time and progress methodically. In addition, the extra time taken helped to minimize the increase in traffic caused by the transportation of the containers.
The project, including initial contact and design, started in 2011, with the build being completed in May last year. The restaurant is due to open this (northern) spring, with the time since installation having been taken to complete the post-build work.
The video below is a timelapse of the Smoky Park Supper Club being built.
Sources: Smoky Park Supper Club, SG Blocks
I'm a very avid fan of Container construction (aka ISBU modules), however, SG Blocks would not be my choice for the consultation and construction of this or any other project.
Their track record is quite well documented since 2008 and their projects seldom materialize, and if so, are slow to complete, ...if they even do get completed.
Example, US Winter Olympics (Canada) 2008, projects in Salt Lake City, California, a huge one in Brazil with investors mad a h--l, this one in Asheville, and others.
I love the Shipping Container technology trend using ISBU modules, but there are many better choices for contractors and consultants on these projects. Clean up or not, ...4+ years?
To me, it's not "built" until it's finished.
Where's the video?
Is it still under construction,too?
These sorts of green projects are nice and all but at this rate, they cannot be taken seriously as a viable alternative for current generation... except maybe as retirement homes.
There are no realistic reasons that it should take this long and STILL not be done.